Hufflepuff Who Lived
by DarkAngelTricks
Summary: Neville Longbottom is the BWL, and the world is different. What will happen when people tamper with Dumbledore's meddling? PAIRINGS: Lily/Severus, James/Olivia OC , and some that will develop. Warnings: Dark Snapes, Rise of Voldemort. Much Gryffindor bashing, sorry to all those Gryffindors out there.
1. Markings and Worries

Okay, this was in my head for a while, so here it is. Sorry, but this chapter is a bit choppy (several parts), but still, give it a chance? :)

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A gentle sprinkle of rain was all that was left of the thunder shower. A man with a long white beard, tied with a ribbon and purple robes stood in the middle of the street. He pulled what looked like a lighter out of his sleeve and clicked it. The surrounding street lamps went out one by one. In his other arm, wrapped in a fuzzy blue blanket was a baby.

This wasn't just any baby. He was special, with a lightning bolt scar in the middle of his forehead. This baby was Neville Longbottom, the boy who lived.

A tabby cat sitting on nearby stones meowed. "I am surprised to see you here, Professor McGonagall." To the normal muggle, it would have been a frightening and exciting experience watching this seemingly normal cat transform into a human.

The human that took the tabby's place was a woman, with black wrinkle-less robes and a tight bun pinned to the black of her head.

"You can't possibly leave him here Albus! His Grandmother is far too old to take care of a child such a Neville."

"He will be fine; this is the best place for him. Here, he will learn what he needs about magic and be safe from any lurking death eaters."

McGonagall huffed and shook her head. Albus Dumbledore made his way to an older, yet cosy looking house and set the baby down on the porch. He was shielded from the light rain under the overhang, and protected from the wind with his blanket. The young boy was sound asleep and held tight to the letter Albus tucked into the blanket.

Both wizards gave one last glance to the precious child they were leaving and left the dark street with a quiet pop.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a quiet place called Godrics Hollow, a young couple held their baby. They were thankful that the Dark Lord did choose their child to mark as his equal. Then again, he probably wouldn't have, no matter what.

Lily Evans, now known as Snape, gently rocked her year old baby. She was sitting on the couch with her legs curled up beside her. Her husband, Severus Snape walked into the room holding two cups of tea. Lily smiled and stood up, reluctantly placing her baby in his crib she temporarily transfigured beside her. She sat back on the couch and took the mug from Severus.

Her husband sat beside her and put an arm around her. "He's fine. Let him sleep."

Lily leaned against him and sipped her tea. "I know, did you hear anything from Lucius or Remus?"

Severus kissed the top of her head. He fiery red hair was lying flat for one, instead of her numerous curls it usually holds. "Yes, Lucius just fire called me. Tom is safely in Riddle manor, and both Longbottoms are dead. Their son has been taken with Dumbledore, presumably hidden from the wizarding world."

Lily nodded, "How about Remus?"

Severus gave a small smile. Remus joined their side when he realized James Potter was taking direct orders from Dumbledore. Dumbledore had already ruined enough of his life, so he joined Severus and Lily on "Voldemort's" side.

"He is fine; he is currently at Malfoy Manor being patched up by Narcissa."

Lily let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Everyone she cared about was alright. She gave the crib a pleading look. "I should put in his room."

Severus nodded and unwrapped his arm from Lily's shoulder. She picked up her son and carried him up the stairs. A few minutes later, she came back down the stairs. "Harry's sound asleep."

Severus put his mug on the table and went over to her. He kissed her, then said, "Why don't we go to bed, it's getting late."

Lily nodded and followed Severus up the stairs. It had been a long day, yet everything turned out just fine for her.

* * *

Across town another young couple, with a baby the same age as the other two children, were mourning the loss of their friends. James Potter and his wife, Olivia had just put their son Dean in his crib. Alice and Frank Longbottom were close friends of the Potters.

Olivia stroked the messy brown hair of her son. She was extremely happy it wasn't her son that You-Know-Who marked as his equal. Then again, she was saddened that little Neville Longbottom was.

"Come love, it's been a long day." Olivia adjusted the baby blanket and followed her auror husband out of the room.

In their room, James started to speak. "Sirius and Peter are in Azkaban. They were convicted of the mass murders of muggles. I can't believe no one saw that it was the Death Eaters!" He ran his hand down his face, then through his dark brown hair. Olivia took his hand and sat on the bed.

"I know, but the Death Eaters are on the rise, and I fear that they have already taken over part of the Ministry." James sighed and sat down next to her. He already knew that. Voldemort had been on the rise for a while, and for some strange reason many people were mad at Dumbledore. The majority of those people became Death Eaters, while there was still a chance for the others, who chose to remain neutral.

"Come on, you need to sleep. I don't want to lose you, and I almost did today." James did as requested and laid beside his wife. He played with the dark blonde hair beside him as the owner of the hair watched him. He had had a busy day. James was one of the aurors who confronted Voldemort, and wasn't killed.

* * *

In a small muggle town, Hermione Granger slept unknowing. Her parents were not worried about anything, either. All slept oblivious to young Hermione's future.

Luna Lovegood, who lived on a large field in a small house with her father, also slept peacefully. Sure, her father knew about the rise of Voldemort and the marking of Neville Longbottom. He was positive it wouldn't be his little girl, and really didn't care about Voldemort anyway. They were one of the neutral families.

* * *

In a marsh, also in the wizarding world lived a large clan of red heads, better known as the Weasleys. Molly Weasley had just welcomed her husband Arthur home, and was trying to round up all her children. Percy did what he was told and went to bed, as did Charlie and Bill. Ron, she had just set down in his crib. The only ones left to be put to bed were the twins.

They were adorable and sweet, but full of mischief. Currently they were running and hiding around the house so they didn't have to go to bed. Molly sighed, and finally cornered them in the study. She cast a 'petrificus totalus' on them and took on frozen boy in eat arm to their beds.

She went to bed herself after that, joining her husband. Arthur looked a bit worse for wear. Death Eaters had taken over part of the ministry. "I talked to James today, Dumbledore took Neville to a safe place until he starts Hogwarts." Molly nodded, Alice and Frank had been close friends to her. She was even at their wedding.

Molly dressed and slipped into bed beside her husband. Both were concerned about the future of the wizarding world, and promised each other that they would try not to become too involved in the problems. Of course, if Dumbledore needed them, they would do anything.

* * *

Lucius Malfoy had ended his firecall with Severus a few minutes ago, helping to put his only child Draco in bed. He looked down at the small sleeping bundle and smiled. Just about everything in the world was great.

Narcissa and Lucius went down the hall to their own bed and snuggled down under the fluffy blankets.

Each family slept quietly that night. The Malfoys, Snapes, Grangers, and Lovegoods slept peacefully with little worries. While the Potters, Weasleys, and Albus Dumbledore slept with nagging fears at the back of their minds. None of them knew what was in store for their families.


	2. Hogwarts Twist

Meeting everyone in this chapter. Oh yeah, I rearranged people in this story. Goyle, Crabbe, uhh and anyone else that's not here (in Harry's grade) will be the year behind. Yep... anyway, I hope you understand. Not all characters in Harry's year will play a large part in this story, sorry if you wanted that..

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Ten Years Later:

The fog around the Hogwarts express was the first thing that welcomed each family onto platform 9 and ¾. The three Potters were instantly surrounded by Weasleys. Dean and Ron, who had been long-time friends, boarded the train followed by the twins and Percy. Percy left them for a cabin with his friends and the twins walked down the hall towards a small group of people. Ron and Dean smiled when the twins started pulling pranks and entered the nearest compartment. There was a boy with a plain brown hair and Hogwarts robes on.

"Hi, can we sit here?" The boy looked up startled and nodded his head. "I'm Ron Weasley, and this is Dean Potter."

"I'm Neville. Neville Longbottom."

Dean and Ron both gave a look of surprise, "Blimey! The Neville Longbottom? Can we see the, you know."

"Oh, sure." Neville lifted up the fringe of his hair, revealing a jagged scar.

Just then the door opened, "Hey Seamus!" Neville greeted.

"Hey Neville," the boy said, sitting down beside Neville. Ron re-introduced him and Dean and soon they felt the train lurch forward. Each rushed towards the window, to wave goodbye to their families. The waved to the massive mob of people until they were just a blur.

Each boy sat back down, squirming under the awkward silence. Ron broke the ice, and started an exciting conversation about quittage.

Meanwhile, young Harry Snape hugged his mother goodbye. His father had already gone to Hogwarts. He was the potions professor now that Slughorn had retired. Harry met up with Draco and both boarded the train together. They opened the first compartment to find that it was full.

"Oh sorry," Draco started.

"Huh, I never thought I hear a Malfoy apologize." Ron Weasley replied, sneering the name.

"Hmm, I don't imagine you hear much of anything Weasley, after all you never stop blathering about quittage to hear what anyone else has to say."

"Come on Draco, don't start fights."

"A Malfoy AND a Snape huh? Figures you two would be together, you slimy snakes are always together."

Draco was about to spit out his comeback when Harry yanked him down to another compartment on a different part of the train.

They both settled in and waved as the train left the station.

A few minutes later, which was spent by Draco flipping through a quittage magazine and Harry reading his charms textbook, the door opened. The boys looked up to see two girls standing at the door.

"Hello, sorry to intrude, but can we sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Yeah sure," Harry said, moving to sit next to Draco. Both girls sat across them, smoothing their robes as they sat.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Luna Lovegood," the girl with bushy hair said. Draco stared at her, the quittage magazine forgotten in his lap.

Luna Lovegood smiled at the boys. She had almost white hair and radishes hanging from her ears. Harry was curious about her, and held his gaze on her longer than on Hermione.

"I'm Harry Snape, and this is-"

Draco cut him off, "I'm Draco Malfoy." Hermione smiled, and started talking about her vast knowledge about Hogwarts. Luna would occasionally add something while both boys just sat back and listened intently.

Quite a few hours later, the train chugged to a stop. The students flooded off the train, the older student continuing to the right. A huge man with a lantern called all the first years and led them over a hill to boats.

The ride to Hogwarts was stunning. The inky black water underneath them was ignored in favour of the lit castle in front of them. The castle was large and lit in practically every window. When they hit shore, the first years climbed out the boats still gaping at the large castle in front of them.

They gathered up a set of stairs, in front of a stern looking witch. "I am Professor McGonagall, in a few moments you will enter the Great Hall to be sorted before dinner. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Please wait here until the doors open."

The witch disappeared through the door, leaving a mob of first years standing there.

"Is it really true that Neville Longbottom is here this year?" A boy with a pointy nose and obnoxious attitude about him asked.

"Yeah, this is Neville Longbottom," Ron said shoving Neville forward. A toad slipped out of his hands and hopped towards the other boy.

"Trevor!" Neville yelled. He lunged and grabbed the toad, straightening himself just before the doors opened to welcome them in.

Draco and Harry started to lead both girls into the Hall when Ron shoved them back. He gave a lop-sided grin and lead Neville and his other two friends in. Draco glared, but Harry held him back, and let a few more people pass before going into the Hall.

The inside of the hall was even more magnificent than the books described it as. There were candles floating above them, never dripping wax. The actual ceiling was black, with grey wisps of clouds and sparkling stars. It looked as if there was no ceiling at all.

The first years gathered to the front of the room, passing the older students. Their jumbled line turned into a small mob as they reached the front. Professor McGonagall stood at the front next to a stool. She had a hanging scroll in one hand, and a tattered old hat in the other.

"When you hear your name called, come up and sit on the stool. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be placed into your Hogwarts house."

The turned to the scroll and called out the first name. "Hannah Abbot" "Hufflepuff" "Susan Bones" "Hufflepuff" "Terry Boot" "Ravenclaw" Harry realized this was the boy who asked about Neville before. The boy sat tall and confident on the stood and strode over to the Ravenclaws when his name was called. "Lavender Brown" "Hufflepuff" Harry zoned out, deciding that it wasn't worth it to listen to more than twenty other students being sorted.

He snapped back into attention when Hermione's name was called. She took a calming breath and sat on the stool. Harry waited on edge as he watched the girl squeeze her eyes shut.

"Slytherin!" Hermione smiled and took her place at the Slytherin table. Harry was beyond confused. Hermione most certainly did not seem like a Slytherin. He actually took her more as a Ravenclaw with how much she knew. Then again, she didn't seem as stuck up as some of the Ravenclaws looked.

"Neville Longbottom" whispers broke out throughout the Great Hall. Neville Longbottom, the boy who lived was at Hogwarts this year. Harry watched as the shy looking boy stumbled up to the stool. The hat was placed on his head, and it was several minutes before it was lifted.

* * *

What The Sorting Hat Said To Neville

'Neville Longbottom eh? Hmm, well, you don't exactly have the thirst for knowledge like a Ravenclaw, or the cunning of a Slytherin. Where to put you. Albus tried to bribe me to put you in Gryffindor, but you would never succeed there. Old fool should stop meddling."

* * *

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The entire Great Hall went deadly silent. The boy-who-lived was supposed to be Gryffindor. Headmaster Dumbledore widened his eyes at the announcement, then narrowed them at the hat. As Neville began to stumble to the Hufflepuff table, everyone was still staring open mouthed at him.

Harry rolled his eyes and started clapping for the poor boy. He knew about the boy, and was supposed to be his enemy. But, he couldn't help but feel bad for the poor boy. Neville turned to the source of the clapping and saw that it was the boy who came into their compartment on the train. He seemed quite nice, but Neville could never had said such things in front of his Gryffindor friends. They would be furious.

Little by little, the entire Great Hall erupted in clapping. The Hufflepuff's were the loudest; after all, they had the boy-who-lived in their house! Harry shook his head a bit; Hermione, Luna, and Draco were the next ones to clap for the poor boy.

Harry perked up when heard Luna's named called. The girl practically floated up to the stool and gracefully sat down. The radishes swung a bit from her ears as the sorting hat was placed on her head.

"Slytherin!" Yet again, Harry was quite confused. Luna was smart, pretty, and in Harry's opinion totally un-Slytherin. The girl smiled sweetly as the open mouthed students in front her. They, too, apparently couldn't believe this sweet girl could be Slytherin.

"Draco Malfoy" Harry gave Draco an encouraging smile and watched the blonde stride past the other students in their year. He sat proudly on the stool as the old hat was put on his heard. "Slytherin!" Harry clapped, Draco being in Slytherin was as sure as the sun rising in the morning.

Yet again, Harry zoned for a bit, until he heard his own name called. He met eyes with his father for the first time tonight. The man gave a small smile back, which propelled Harry to the stool. He sat on the stool and had his vision blocked by the sorting hat's edge.

"Harry Snape? Hmm, plenty of courage, you could do well in Gryffindor. No? You're probably correct, Gryffindors don't seem to think, but you have a thirst for knowledge and think before you act. I have the perfect house. SLYTHERIN"

Harry let out a sigh of relief and smiled. He looked to his father who was clapping along with the rest of the Hall and made his way over to Draco. He sat next to the blonde and across from Hermione and Luna.

After the rest of the students were sorted, Albus Dumbledore stood. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now before we start the feast, I have a few things to say. First, I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden, clearly put in the name. Secondly, the third floor is off limits, due to maintenance. Finally, have a wonderful year. Let the feast begin!"

He waved his hands and food appeared on the tables. The upper years immediately started to reach and eat food, as the first years took in the many different types of food. Harry took a bit of chicken and potato before he began to eat. He caught a glare from his father and scowled as he took a scoop of broccoli. Harry looked around as the other first years introduced themselves. There was a Teddy Nott, Pansy Parkinson, and Padma Patil (whose twin was in Ravenclaw).

Harry looked around the room with curiosity, trying to see how many people he could name. He could name a few, whom he met through his parents, but not many. In all honesty, you really couldn't meet many other kids from death eater meetings.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry's scanning. "Honestly, did you pay any attention to the sorting?" Harry shook his head and she began to name students in other houses.

In Ravenclaw, beside them, was Terry Boot, Silvia moon, Morgan MacDougal, Parvati Patil, Andrew Turpin, and Amanda Dreamerd. In Hufflepuff, the next table over was, Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Justin Fletchlet, John Reddy, and Samantha Retik. Finally, in Gryffindor was, Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Potter, Lavender Brown, Mandy Brocklehurst, and Abbi Eulb.

There were not many students in his year, but Harry could already tell who he was going to have a problem with. Harry reached down for the last piece of chicken when he realized his chicken was gone. In fact, everyone's dinner was gone and replaced with dessert. Harry took a piece of chocolate cake and a banana before digging like everyone around him.

Five minutes later, the first years were finishing up their dessert and the older years were flooding out of the Great Hall. None of the first years knew what to do, so they looked to the staff table in the front.

Looking up, and examining the teachers, Harry realized he really couldn't name many of them. Professor McGonagall, Harry's dad aka Professor Snape, a short man, and a chubby lady made their way to each table. They stood in front of the staff table, lined up with their house. McGonagall was at the Gryffindors, the short man was in front of the Ravenclaws, and the chubby lady was in front of the Hufflepuffs.

They went down the line to introduce themselves. The short man was Professor Flitwick the charms teacher, and the chubby lady was Professor Sprout, the herbology teacher. McGonagall was the transfiguration teacher and Snape was the potions master. A tall man with glasses and messy brown hair introduced himself as Professor Potter, the DADA teacher. Harry noticed his father scowl when the man introduced himself as a Professor.

He thought about a bit, and remembered a bit of the stories of Hogwarts his parents use to tell him. James Potter was the leader of a group of bullies that wanted to marry his mum. They almost did, until one of their pranks hurt her best friend, now husband, Severus. She punched him and threw dozens of charms of him that made his life miserable for a month. Not even Albus Dumbledore could remove half the charms Lily threw at him.

The professors told them about the point system, and a basic outline of what they would be learning here in Hogwarts. Now two more professors were introduced. One was Professor Burbage, the muggle studies professor. The other was Professor LeStrange, the sane brother of Bella LeStrange. He was the wizard studies professor. Students would be split into these classes depending on how you were raised, so that you would learn more about the opposite culture.

Albus Dumbledore had been hesitant on hiring Snape and LeStrange but had no concrete argument not to. That and there were no other people who signed up for the jobs.

Each group was led by their heads of house to their common rooms, then directed to their dormitories. The Slytherin Common room was decorated in greens and browns, giving it a comfortable feeling. Their trunks were already waiting in their dormitories. Harry and Draco chose two next to each other, and Teddy on the other side of Draco. Harry was closest to the bathroom and farthest from the door. Their closets were on the other side of the room, along with windows charmed to look out onto the quittage field.

Each boy changed and climbed into the white and green sheets, saying a quiet good-night and falling asleep.


	3. Hogwarts Plans

I responded to a 'guest' review, before I wrote this chapter.

Oh, and sorry for the shortness of this chapter. The next one will be longer, I'm adjusting minor parts of the plot before I become too involved in writing this story. Without the A/N in the beginning it's over 1000 words. This is actually the shortest chapter I have EVER written, and I am quite disappointed about that fact, but I must press on! lol, Thanks for reading, and please, feel free to send me or review any suggestions you want to see in this story!

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A RESPONSE TO A REVIEW

"Hermione and Luna in Slytherin ruins the story. Seriously, it's called fanfiction, not dumbfiction.  
And Lunas not even in Hogwarts yet.  
People let their love for loony Luna and the mudblood cloud their judgement of what's actually doable.  
God, it feels like their immune to any negative stuff the authors come up with..."

This was a 'guest' review I received. Now, in all honesty I do not typically allow guest reviews because I feel like some just log out of their accounts in order to post a rather rude comment. I understand this is not always the case, but still. Now for this particular review, I decided to answer it publicly. I have no problem with flames, they give me more ideas for my plots, but this one was not useful at all to me. With the comment of 'dumbfiction', I'm not entirely sure you understand the word 'fanfiction' to begin with. This word means that I can use my own creativity about someone else's basic idea to write a story for other people to read and hopefully enjoy. To the comment about Luna, I mentioned in the beginning of the last chapter that I had played with a few students- thus the reason for holding back a few students. My story, my idea to use these characters in this fashion. I do not own anything 'Harry Potter'. Now about Hermione 'the mudblood' and Luna- my plot line, my rules, deal with it or leave. Although, I am honored that you have taken time out of whatever life you lead to post a review and read my story that you so clearly dislike. Thank you to all my readers, fans and haters alike.

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HUFFLEPUFF WHO LIVED- CHAPTER 3

Morning daylight peeking through the curtains woke Draco first. Rubbing his eyes, the blond sat up. The clock on the wall across from him read 7:02. Running a hand though his hair, he padded into the bathroom. The sight of the reflection in the mirror would have had anyone stunned. Perfect Malfoy, who always looked pristine, looked as if he wrestled someone last night. The green silk pajamas, currently on him, were rolled up on one of his legs, twisted on his arms and torso, and dreadfully wrinkled. The always styled blond locks were ruffled and sticking up in quite a few directions.

Draco yawned and stripped, dragging his feet to the shower. At first he was welcomed with icy cold water, helping to wake him up. Once Draco believed the sleepiness had subsided, hot water was switched on. Five minutes later, a fresh Draco Malfoy wrapped himself in a towel to dry off. He slipped on his shorts and trousers and swung the towel over his head, before he left for a few wake up calls.

Draco decided to wake up Teddy Nott first. Calling the boy wasn't working, so Draco tried shaking the boy a bit. When that also failed, he shook harder. Teddy's eyes shot open, and had his wand in his hands in record time. Once he realized it was only Draco he lowered it, but was cut off from a remark by a yawn. Teddy's yawn lasted record time, before he shook the sleep from his head.

"Morning," Draco said cheerfully. The boy just glared and made his way to the bathroom for a shower of his own.

Draco turned to Harry with a smirk on his face. He knew exactly how his god brother hated mornings, and the most effective way of waking him up- without being killed or seriously injured. Draco stood at the end of Harry's bed and backed up all the way to the wall. Next he ran full speed at the sleeping figure, yelling "WAKE UP HARRY! IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS!" At a foot away from the bed, Draco pounced, landing right on top of Harry.

"Oomph" Harry's head popped out from under the blankets and squinted. Though still foggy with sleep, Harry's eyes had no problem seeing that it was Draco who so rudely woke him up this morning. "What the hell Draco? A simple 'Harry wake up' and a shake would've sufficed!"

Draco rolled his eyes, "pff, that only works with Aunt Lily. Even Uncle Severus has to use different methods to wake you up in the morning!" Harry growled and saw the time, 7:19. He jumped out of bed, dashing to the bathroom for a shower. Draco laughed and pulled out the rest of his clothes for today and combed his hair.

At promptly 7:45, the trio left their dormitory for the Great Hall. Class would begin at 8:20 and time tables would be handed out at eight. Teddy abandoned them for another group, and was replaced by Hermione and Luna.

* * *

Breakfast in the Great Hall was way too bright. The ceiling shone a bright sun rising on one side, and all the windows had bright morning sunlight pouring in. Harry really wished he could crawl back into his soft, warm bed and sleep away the morning.

Professor Snape came around and passed out the timetables. Since their year was so small this time, the entire grade would be taking their classes together. Harry dropped his head into his arms, yay, more time to be annoyed by Ronald Weasley and co. Hermione poked him, telling him to eat his breakfast because it is the most important meal of the day. Harry narrowed his eyes, but caught the look his father threw at him.

A groan escaped as he ate his scrambled eggs and toast, pulling his schedule closer to read. First he had Transfiguration, then Defence, Charms, Herbology, and Potions. Astronomy was every Friday night and flying would start in a few weeks.

Harry sighed and pushed away the last of his eggs. Now he would have to make his way all the way back to the dungeons for his books. At least Draco had to go- nope; Draco already had his bag full of books. Harry was about to stand when his book bag and necessary books for the day came floating in, landing beside him.

Most of the Great Hall noticed, and stared at Harry as he stared at his books. That wasn't normal. Suddenly Sir Nicholas came floating in with another book floating in front of him. "Sorry Lad, but we forgot this one."

Harry was dumbstruck for a moment. "Eh, thank you? But why did you bring my books, I didn't even say anything. I could have just gone down to fetch them."

Sir Nicholas, the Gryffindor ghost, laughed. "Hogwarts felt it. When you realized you forgot you bag and would probably be late to class on you first day because of it, we fetched it for you."

Suddenly Ronald Weasley stood up. "Hey! You're the ghost of GRYFFINDOR! How come you got the Slytherin's books? I left mine in my dorm too!"

Sir Nicholas shrugged, "We only sense Mr Snape and his friends' needs."

"Why only them? You're supposed to be with the Gryffindors, not Slimy Snakes," Ron continued still outraged.

"Well, not all of them are Snakes you know, Mr Longbottom, and Messrs Weasley are also known."

The Weasley twins grinned and Neville blushed. Although, why was he named a friend of Harry Snape?

"Still, why not us Gryffindors, you know, the people of your tower?" Ron shot back.

"No Gryffindor is the champion of Hogwarts. Harry is."

With that the bell rang, yet no one moved. All eyes were shifting from Harry to Dumbledore. Dumbledore was quite upset; the Hogwarts champion should have at least been Neville Longbottom! There had to be someone messing with Hogwarts to make it choose a death eater spawn as its champion and not the boy who lived. Even Ronald Weasley would have been a better choice.

Albus shook his head and shooed the students and teachers to class.

* * *

Out in the hall, Neville held back to talk to Harry. "Harry!" Said boy turned, his friends followed only a fraction slower. Neville looked nervously at the group. "I was wondering about what Sir Nicholas said back there. You know, that Hogwarts would also respond to me because I was your friend. Well, I was just- well you see-"

Harry stopped him, "Yeah Neville. No one else looked like they would be your friend, just a follower of the boy who lived. Especially that Ronald Weasley. Though, I understand if you don't want to be my friend. After all, I am Slytherin and on the 'dark side'."

Neville considered it for a moment before he held out his hand. "I would love to be your friend. I can't really think of anyone who has been my friend just because I'm Neville. Being on the Dark Lord's side doesn't really bother me either. I mean, just because someday I'm supposed to defeat him, says the crazy lady, doesn't mean I want to!"

Harry smiled; this year was really going to be great. He shook Neville's hand, "Well Neville, would you like to accompany us to class?" He nodded and the small group continued on, oblivious to the shaded figure down the corridor.

Dumbledore was seething. First the Death Eater spawn was named champion, now he's friends with the bloody boy who lived! This could seriously mess with his plans. Albus paced his office, working out a plan to make Neville hate both Snapes, and all the Slytherins. That way, there was a possibility that he could be re-sorted and placed in Gryffindor. Dumbledore sucked on a Lemon drop, there had to be a way to do this without damaging his reputation, or making Neville hate Ronald. But what could it be?

* * *

Sorry that this isn't as good as it could be or should be. I will work on making it better, though I won't have too much time to write now – school is coming up and I have yet to finish my required reading.. ehh… Thanks!


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